Junction Creek Campground

[Coffee]

Does anyone know whether the Junction Creek Campground near the Durango trailhead typically fills up on weekdays? I'm thinking of spending a night at this campground after my thru hike to avoid going into Durango on the day I finish so I can save some money over what appear to be very overpriced motels. I have a reservation at the General Palmer right in downtown Durango for the night prior to my reserved flight home and given the high cost of that stay, I'd rather avoid a second night in town. I don't want to "stealth" camp near the trailhead if there is a legal option available.

Too bad the Durango Hostel closed down last year. The motels that are relatively cheap all have pretty horrible reviews and the hotels right in downtown are $$$!

I would be arriving at the campground on a Thursday afternoon/evening.

Link to Junction Creek Campground: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/sanju...42998&actid=29

[Dogwood]

I stealthed on the far side of town part way up a hill(mountain?). There are also stealth campsites along the river in Durango along the walkway.

[bearcreek]

Campground should have space. It is not usually full.

[Paddlefoot]

Does anyone know whether the Junction Creek Campground near the Durango trailhead typically fills up on weekdays? I'm thinking of spending a night at this campground after my thru hike to avoid going into Durango on the day I finish so I can save some money over what appear to be very overpriced motels. I have a reservation at the General Palmer right in downtown Durango for the night prior to my reserved flight home and given the high cost of that stay, I'd rather avoid a second night in town. I don't want to "stealth" camp near the trailhead if there is a legal option available.

Too bad the Durango Hostel closed down last year. The motels that are relatively cheap all have pretty horrible reviews and the hotels right in downtown are $$$!

I would be arriving at the campground on a Thursday afternoon/evening.

Link to Junction Creek Campground: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/sanju...42998&actid=29

Yes, it's a bummer that the hostel closed. Nice, clean, reasonably priced accommodations. If I thought I could make money, my dream would be to more to Durango and open a hostel!

My family and I stayed at Junction Creek for two nights about a week after my thru-hike last summer (early August). There were definitely empty sites. Some were open and available and some had been reserved and folks hadn't shown up, if I remember correctly.

If you have the CT databook, there is a really sweet little campsite on a rocky outcropping just above the listed red gate (I believe at about mile 13 or 14?) of section 28. I passed a couple of crappy sites coming down from Kennebec Pass and was overjoyed to find this nice little spot for my last night on the trail. That would make a fairly short, downhill hike into Durango before your stay downtown.

Have fun on your hike, I'm jealous!

[Coffee]

Thanks. It is good to know that this campground should be an option. I have considered staying at the last legal backcountry site prior to Durango but that might make for a short day. But who knows... My planned itinerary is only a rough guide and sure to change.

[Wise Old Owl]

Coffee - what is wrong with a little stealth camp?

[Dogwood]

There is a campsite at a waterfall and pedestrian bridge on, I think Upper Junction Creek, south of of Kennebec Pass although it can be muddy when it has been raining. I stayed there on my last day while hiking the CT. It's pretty much all down hill or flat from Kennebec Pass so staying at nearby Taylor Lake is a rather doable day to the end of the CT at the end of a CT thru-hike when you should be in decent physical shape. You could cowboy camp in fair weather at Gudy's Overlook about 4 miles from the southern terminus too which would provide a nice night time scene of Durango and give you a nice sunrise. If you did this I would get an especially early start though as this is about as far north on the CT a few of the really diehard mountain bikers get(it would be steeply uphill for a mountain biker to Gudy's Overlook) from Durango.

[Coffee]

Coffee - what is wrong with a little stealth camp?

Maybe nothing, but I'd prefer not to take the risk at the end of a month long hike.

[bearcreek]

FYI, camping along the last 5 miles of the trail coming in to Durango is illegal. That includes Gudy's Rest. Anywhere before that is OK.

You should time your hike so that you camp in the vicinity of Orphan Butte in Segment 27 (almost certainly a dry camp), then hit Indian Trail Ridge early in the morning. It is a lightning magnet with storms commonly beginning as early as noon. If you do that then it is a 19.2 miles day to the campsite mentioned by Dogwood at BB071B. That is 14.4 miles from the Junction Creek trailhead. If that seems like a little too much, the trail crosses an old mining road at BB024X and if you follow the road a short distance west there are springs that are usually running and you can camp along the road. This was a dry winter so I don't know if the springs will be reliable.

The last reliable water before Orphan Butte is near Z075M after you descend from Blackhawk Pass. There is a really good spring by the trail just at treeline. The next water is at Kennebec Pass, so you need to plan for that as well. My strategy has always been to spend a night at Bolam Pass or a bit past there where there is abundant water, then hike over Blackhawk Pass and collect water from the spring. I fill an extra bottle there since that night is at a dry campsite near Orphan Butte. Next night is BB071B (B is for Bridge), then the hike is easily finished the next day.

If you are going to the Junction Creek Campground, you need to turn off of the trail at BB203X and head directly ahead to the road that is visible from there. Follow the road to the left to the entrance to the CG.

[GlobeTrotter]

Coffee, if you are strapped for cash and would still like the idea of staying indoors in Durango and meeting cool people, you can always check out www.couchsurfing.org. Its not for everybody, but I have surfed with people and hosted people all over the world. I would bet that there are some hosts in Durango. In general, the couchsurfing community is pretty rad and as long as you do a good job at representing yourself in your profile and communicating with your potential host beforehand your chances are good and finding a nice spot to stay. I specifically used it before and after hikes in Vermont and Alaska, and my hosts were other outdoor enthusiasts stoked to have a thru-hiker staying with them. Good luck!

[Coffee]

Thanks GlobeTrotter, I was not aware of the couch surfing idea. It isn't so much that I'm actually strapped for cash but that I don't like the value proposition of staying in expensive places (even though they might be nice), or spending close to $100 on a lousy motel room (in which case I'd rather be in my tent). Hostels when they are available usually strike the right balance for me but couch surfing sounds interesting and worth looking into.

[Dogwood]

"FYI, camping along the last 5 miles of the trail coming in to Durango is illegal. That includes Gudy's Rest." Anywhere before that is OK." Where did you get this info BearCreek? If it's true I wasn't aware of it. My bad. I know there's a few miles of private land or something similar near the southern terminus that's off limits to camping but are you sure the entire last 5 miles there's no camping? I'm asking not challenging. THX.

[bearcreek]

The trail is completely on national forest there. Durango has a sizable transient population in the summer and the meadows near the trail and along Junction Creek were getting trashed, food and gear were being stolen from the campground, etc. The USFS solved the problem by making it illegal to camp close to town. Ditto for along the road that goes past the campground - it is closed all the way to Animas Overlook, which is over 6 miles. They are very strict about enforcement. This has been in effect for a long time - something like 15 years.

There is a stock and wildlife watering trough that is next to the trail in the vicinity of BB170M and that is the closest place to the trailhead where camping is allowed. I didn't mention it earlier because there is a very high probability that it will be dry this summer.

[Dogwood]

I've never heard of USFS land being closed to camping especially for that many miles. I did notice two different groups(hikers, not transients) camping seemingly deep in the woods stealthily in the last 5 miles before the southern terminus. I really didn't notice many transients/homeless in/around the Durango area last yr in three days of staying in Durango. I wandered around town in the backwoods areas for those days and noticed little to no evidence of so called transients. This is the first I'm hearing about it but since you live there you would know better.

[bearcreek]

I've never heard of USFS land being closed to camping especially for that many miles. I did notice two different groups(hikers, not transients) camping seemingly deep in the woods stealthily in the last 5 miles before the southern terminus. I really didn't notice many transients/homeless in/around the Durango area last yr in three days of staying in Durango. I wandered around town in the backwoods areas for those days and noticed little to no evidence of so called transients. This is the first I'm hearing about it but since you live there you would know better.

Here is the directive and closure map. Has been closed since 1996.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_...ev3_001852.pdf


If you are still unconvinced, call them up:
Columbine Ranger District
367 South Pearl Street
P.O.Box 439
Bayfield, CO 81122
(970) 884-2512

[Dogwood]

THX Bearcreek for providing that info. Good stuff. I wasn't doubting you. I thought it unusual though.

[bearcreek]

I wandered around town in the backwoods areas for those days and noticed little to no evidence of so called transients. This is the first I'm hearing about it but since you live there you would know better.

Durango, a town with a population of under 17,000, has three homeless shelters that are standing room only in the summer months. There are hundreds of homeless and seasonally transient people living in stealth camps in the forest near town. Our local soup kitchen serves 45,000 meals annually.

[Dogwood]

Wow, with all my 3 days EVER in Durango in Oct 2013, I didn't see evidence of all these homeless transients living in the forest near town. Where and how do you think this has happened? - CT hikers who don't want to readily depart Durango?